Safety Behaviors
Hello Everyone,
I hope that Spring is coming to your part of the world. It certainly is starting to show up here in Oregon.
What are Safety Behaviors?
Let’s imagine that you and I are walking down the street together and we see a young boy on the street corner ringing a bell very loudly. As we pass him we have the following exchange:
You and I: “Why are you ringing the bell?”
Little boy: “To keep the elephants away!”
You and I: “But that’s silly! There aren’t any elephants around here to worry about”.
Little boy: “Oh no, you’re wrong! There are elephants out there and if I stop ringing this bell they will stampede down the street, they will crush me and I will die!”
What is wrong with this boy’s reasoning? He is convinced that there are elephants close by and it is only because he keeps ringing the bell that he is safe from being crushed, so from his point of view ringing the bell makes perfect sense.
How Safety Behaviors Actually Maintain Anxiety
But, if you think about it, the act of ringing the bell actually has the effect of maintaining the belief there really are elephants close by and we are safe only because we keep ringing the bell. What if the elephants aren’t actually there? When it comes to understanding what maintains an anxiety disorder, safety behaviors are usually involved. Many of our anxiety disorders are maintained because we “keep ringing the bell to keep the elephants away”.
Safety behaviors provide us with a false sense of security which reinforces the belief that they are actually working and perpetuates the idea that the elephants are real. When we “keep ringing the bell” and our feared consequences don’t happen, we attribute it to the fact that we did a safety behavior, instead of the fact that the elephants weren’t there in the first place.The more we believe the safety behaviors are working, the less likely we are to stop them.
Many people who question why their anxiety persists despite doing exposure to what they fear come to realize that because of their safety behaviors they aren’t actually facing what they fear. Safety behaviors are everywhere in anxiety disorders and it is necessary to understand how they work, notice and track how and when we use them and then, if we are trying to recover from an anxiety disorder, choose to stop them. Of course, this is much easier said than done.
Types of Safety Behaviors
Safety behaviors usually come in one of five categories:
Avoidance - If I don’t go to that party, then I won’t have to feel uncomfortable about potentially meeting some new people (social anxiety).
Distraction - As I drive across that bridge I will sing Happy Birthday and not look out the side window so I won’t think about or see how high up we are (bridge phobia).
Reassurance - “Is it OK to eat that yogurt even though today is the expiration date?” (health anxiety).
Over Preparing - Staying all night before a flight packing and repacking a suitcase because if it’s packed perfectly then the flight won’t crash (OCD).
Superstitious Behaviors - Knocking on wood to avoid bad things from happening or touching the outside of the jet as you board to insure the flight will go well (probably OCD).
What to do About Safety Behaviors
If you want to overcome your fears you must face what you’re afraid of. If you don’t go to any parties you may never overcome the fear of meeting new people and if you keep singing Happy Birthday as you cross the bridge you will probably never get used to that bridge, etc.
A metaphor I have often used is that if you jump into a pool full of cold water wearing a wetsuit, you may not feel the cold, but you will never adjust and get used to the cold water if you always wear a wetsuit. You must take off the wetsuit and then get in the water and only then can you get used to the cold. Once you realize you’ve been using safety behaviors you must stop and take the chance the elephants might come, which amounts to doing exposure therapy.
I hope you’re finding these posts helpful and if there are topics you’d like me to cover in future posts, please let me know. Don’t forget that these posts are for educational purposes only and aren’t meant to be a substitute for therapy, so if you’re struggling with an anxiety disorder, please consult a licensed therapist.
If you know someone who might benefit from reading what I write in these posts, please forward this post to them. In these pandemic times many of us are struggling with more anxiety than usual and I’d like to think that these posts can provide some help.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Stay safe,
Dr Bob
